Partner's Duty
by Sphered-Rhyme
Summary: Juliet learns the true meaning of being a partner.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own Psych or any of its characters

"O'Hara!"

She heard her name rip through the air seconds before she felt something slam into her, sending her to the groung. As she hit the ground, she heard deafening shots ring through the air.

She shook her head, only dazed momentarily, and jumped back up, gun in hand, immediately aimedwhere it had been moments earlier. Looking where it was trained, she saw their perp, laying flat on the ground, unmoving, and her partner standing with his back to her in between them.

"Thanks, partner." She kept her gun on the perp as she approached Carlton and gave him pat on the shoulder on her way to check the perp. She checked out the man laying on the ground-but hadn't it been a man? No, this kid couldn't have been older than 15. She checked for a pulse-she couldn't find any. Damnit. She hated this part of the job. She hated the killing, hated the violence. She knew it was necessary, but she couldn't help herself. She stood, looking at the body, and saw the gun, still in the kid's hand. 'He had been aiming at me." She shook her head, now weary. She knew it wasn't her fault, but by nature she couldn't help feeling like this all could have been avoided somehow, and that it was her fault for not figuring out how.

She holstered her weapon, and stood, taking another look at the boy before taking a breath and composing herself, putting herself back into detective mode. She heard something heavy hit the ground behind her, and she whisked around, pulling her gun back out of the holster. She found herself aiming at her partner. She sighed and shook her head, lowering her weapon.

"Lassiter! You startled me! What are you..." she heard her voice trail off as she looked over her partner. His arm was still up, like he was holding his gun, but there was no gun in it. 'What the-' his gun was on the ground, directly under his hand. 'Carlton wouldn't drop his weapon like that.' She started towards her partner. He still hadn't moved from where he had been.

"Carlton...?" She stood right in front of him, and he still looked past her, like she wasn't there. She put her hand up to his face, gently tapping his cheek. "Carlton." She said a bit more forcefully, the beginnings of panic starting to well up in her. This was not at all like her partner. "Carlton!" She shook him slightly, and he snapped his eyes to her. He looked startled, like he'd never noticed her there. "Carlton...are you okay?" She put both her hands on his shoulders, steadying him as he swayed slightly, her eyes searching his. "Yeah...I think I am..." he let out with a shaky breath, and she felt his shoulders begin to relax. 'Thank God.'

"Well come on then, we've got to call this in." She patted his shoulder, slightly leaning him up against the side of his car, while she went around him to get her radio, opening the door, and sitting down partially on the seat.

"This is O'Hara, we're going to need a coroner and back up here at the old Murphy Mill."

"Copy that O'Hara"

She hooked the radio on her jacket, and turned to talk to her partner, but didn't see him. The panic seeped back into her. "Carlton!" She sprang up and ran to the side of the car where she'd left him, and found him with his back propped up against the side of the car, legs splayed out in front of him. "Officer down! Repeat, officer down! Send ambulance to Murphy Mill off of I-17 immediately!" His hands were plastered to the right side of his chest, his mouth drawn into a thin line, as he took in sharp breaths through his nose. She stifled the urge to cry out to him, taking a breath and hearing his voice telling her to do her damn job, and knelt down beside him.

"Carlton, I'm going to move your hands away, I need to see the extent of the wound." His eyes opened to look at her, and she took that as enough of a sign that he heard her. She grabbed his hands with hers, and moved his jacket out of the way, and pulled his hands down to look at the wound. Blood spurted out from the hole as soon as she moved his hands, and he let out a gasp of pain as she shoved his hands back onto the wound. She could see the rapid progression of red around the area on his white dress shirt. She put her hand on his face, tilting it to look at her. "Carlton, just keep pressure on that, I'm going to the trunk to get the EMS." He blinked tightly, rapidly nodding his head, and she raced to the back of the car, opening the trunk. She grabbed the bright red case, and jumped back to her partner's side.

She quickly threw open the top of the case, and rummaged around until she found the packet she was looking for. She ripped open the top with her teeth, and turned back to Carlton, grabbing his hands. "Okay, I"m going to pour the quik-clot on the wound, it's gunna hurt like hell." She let her eyes linger on his for a moment, making sure he had heard her. She moved his hands down and poured the powder in the hole in one quick motion. "ARGHHHHHHH!" A scream ripped through his chest, and his eyes shot back open. She held his hand over the wound and pushed into them, knowing he had to keep pressure on it or he'd bleed out before the EMT's arrived. After a few moments, his breathing came back down, and his whole body seemed to relax a little. She moved herself to his side, and slowly helped him shift his weight so that he was resting against her torso. His body seemed to melt into hers, and she felt for the pulse in his neck, finding it to be thready and feeble, betraying the reality that he was slipping into shock.

She tightened her grip on him, unsure if she was reassuring him or herself. "Hold on partner."

 **TBC**


End file.
